Remixing Multilanguaging Rules: A Case Study of African American English Speakers in a Bilingual Program

• In Event: 25.084 - MTCC Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: 25.084-2 - Centering Justice in Bilingual Classrooms

Abstract

This qualitative study investigated the ways in which the language policies and structure of an elementary dual-language program continues to oppress African-American English (AAE) speakers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the linguistic features and social functions of AAE speakers in a Spanish/English dual-language program. Using Critical Race Theory, Raciolinguistics, and Ethnography of Communication as frameworks, findings demonstrated that teachers continued to silence AAE by reinforcing binary language policies. In addition, results showed tensions between the language policies of the program and the students’ language choices. This study seeks to continue the conversation on how the implementation of language policies in dual-language classrooms can be suppressive to the rich linguistic processes of AAE speakers.

Author

• Brittany Frieson, University of North Texas